Booklist Reviews
Gr. 1-3. What if Mother Goose goofed, and Mary had a ham rather than a lamb? Enter Stanley Snoutowski, a pig who craves the limelight. Stanley struts his stuff for Mary, but they both know he's destined for something bigger: Broadway! Once there, his pride is dealt a few solid blows, but Mary's unswerving faith in him and Stanley's own gumption help him rise to stardom. Palatini milks the pig premise for all its worth ("spigtacular!" "snoutstanding!"), and her verbal showboating ("he pondered his portly profile") does get a little tiresome at times. However, Francis' artwork is a hoot: he spoofs familiar Broadway posters and depicts primping thespians in a "cattle call" scene that winks at the triumph of vanity over indignity. Fans of Palatini's energetic storytelling will welcome this felicitous new pairing, which will work well with Robert Kinerk's Clorinda [BKL N 1 03] for an eccentric storytime about livestock aspiring to stardom. ((Reviewed December 15, 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Mary's pig Stanley Snoutowski is too talented to stay down on the farm, so she sends him off to Broadway to pursue an acting career. Stanley struggles as a singing waiter and cab driver, until his big break comes when famous producers Hoggers and Hammerswine climb into his cab. Palatini's wordplay is full of energy and humor, and Francis's cartoon illustrations add to the fun. Copyright 2004 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews
Mary had a little lamb, you say? Not quite: a little ham, of both the porcine and thespian variety. Stanley Snoutowski, last in his litter, hams it up at Mary's school (where it was against the rule) and then sets his sights on Broadway. Success eludes him at first, but encouraging notes from Mary keep him going until the day the famous producers Hoggers and Hammerswine step into his cab for a ride to 42nd St.-and the rest is theatre history. Palatini keeps the puns and jokes coming thick and fast, even as she keeps narrative tongue firmly in cheek: "Stanley wondered if he could really cut the mustard in one of Sheepspeare's classics." Francis's cheerfully goofy illustrations extend the jokes, depicting a cattle call peopled with farm animals in cow suits, udders dangling, psyching themselves for the audition. It is the evident good humor of both text and illustrations that will get young readers through a story that depends on a trope largely unfamiliar to both of them-that, and Stanley's endearing, dogged determination to make it pig. (Picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus 2003 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Playbill-hoarding grown-ups may laugh loudest at this story of a piglet meant for bigger things than life on the farm. Young Mary's pig, Stanley Snoutowski, is plump with stage talent: "He could make 'em laugh. He could make 'em cry. And, wow! Could those little pig's feet hoof it!" Once in New York to pursue his career, Stanley faces struggles and setbacks and menial employment. But whenever he feels low (or wonders whether he should get his snout fixed), Mary's letters offer him unconditional encouragement. And when Stanley finally triumphs in Hamlet, she's in the balcony cheering him on. For the most part, Palatini's prose bounces along exuberantly, as in her Bad Boys (reviewed above). But here she underscores her messages about the power of spunk and friendship more than she needs to, and her writing can slide into overworked. Francis (the Adam Sharp series) renders Mary with oddly oversize eyes and large head, but his cute, anthropomorphic Stanley has plenty of, er, animal magnetism. Adults will savor the nods to classic journey-to-stardom moments. There's a literal cattle call that brings out other, desperately-seeking-fame species in cow costumes (one chicken has jerry-rigged a cow's head atop a plunger, which she wears on her own head); and posters for the porcine versions of classic productions that mark Stanley's rise to the top, including "Pork Chop on a Hot Tin Plate," complete with a voluptuous sow in a Liz Taylor 'do and slip. Ages 5-9. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal Reviews
K-Gr 3-In this paean to pork puns, Palatini presents the story of Stanley Snoutowski, a young pig who longs to see his name in lights. Encouraged by his friend Mary, he moves to New York City and experiences the typical struggles many young actors go through: cattle-call auditions (with actual cattle, of course) and jobs waiting tables and driving a cab, until his big break-a chance meeting with the legendary Broadway producers Hoggers and Hammerswine. From then on, Stanley is a star, in productions of South Pigcific, The Pig and I, Pigmalion, Pork Chop on a Hot Tin Plate, and, finally, Hamlet. The color cartoon illustrations mesh well with the text, especially the promotional material for Stanley's plays. But the story as a whole is problematic. Readers expecting a connection to the classic nursery rhyme will be disappointed, as that link is quickly dropped. While the Broadway story is clever, many of the puns are unlikely to be appreciated or understood by the audience, and those who do understand them are more likely to groan than laugh. For aficionados of pigs and puns only.-Ellen A. Greever, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.